Flangeway guard



Oct. 29, 1929. I J. L.. TAYLOR, JR

FLANGEWAY GUARD Filed April'l, 1929 Patented Oct. 29, 1929 J'AMES L. TAYLOR, JR., OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA FLANGEWAY GUARD Application led April 1, 1929.- Seral No. 351,573.

My invention relates to the structure of railroad street crossings.

A purpose of my invention is to provide a railroad structure at street crossings that will eliminate or greatly lessen tne danger of people or horses catching feet between the track rails and the inside guard rails adjacent thereto which outwardly bound the street portion intermediate the track rails, as Well as greatly lessening danger of stray bolts or the like finding a lodgment between the track and guard rails at a suflicient height to lift the wheel flanges of the train.

A further purpose is to provide a railroad road crossing with a removable preferably sheet metal trough between the track and inside guard rails, that will be adapted to receive and pass the wheel flanges of trains, adapted to be readily scraped clean of stones, bolts or the like that settle between the rails and which will adequately close the spaces beneath the opposing head flanges of the track and guard rails.

A further purpose is to seat a sheet metal trough member between a track rail and an inside guard rail that bounds the road portion between the track rails in a bed of bitumen or the like and to provide the trough with a structure adapting it to easy installation and removal.

A further purpose is to springl a sheet metal trough member to place between a track rail and an adjacent guard rail so that the upper edges of the trough sides spring under the opposing rail heads.

A further purpose is to insert a trough between the track rail and a guard rail7 laterally supporting the trough at intervals and supporting the bottom of the trough.

A further purpose is to insert spacer blocks between the head flange and foot flange portions of a track rail and of. an adjacent guard rail at intervals along the length of a trough intermediate the rails in order to properly r position the trough.

A further purpose is to provide a lining for a angeway space between a track rail and a guard rail which can be removed without disturbing the guard rail position and without interference with the paving material.

A further purpose is to provide a tool for easy removal of a trough intermediate a track rail and a guard rail or a road crossing.

Further purposes will appear in the speciiication and in the claims.

I have elected to show one only of the different forms of my invention, selecting a -form that is practical and eihcient in operation and which well illustrates the principles involved.

Figure 1 is a transverse section through rail structure embodying my invention,the view corresponding to a section taken upon the line 1 1 of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section to 65 reduced scale taken upon the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse section corresponding nearly to Figure 1 but illustrating an outside guard rail, not shown in Figure l. and also illustrating a desirable way ot removing the trough.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a key member for use when removing the trough fromits position of use.

Figure 5 is a transverse section to reduced scale illustrating the method of placing the trough between a track rail and an inside guard rail.

Figure 6 is a transverse section to reduced 80 scale showing a slightly different arrangement of the same form.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a support which may be used.

Like numerals refer to like parts in all figures.

Describing in illustration and not in limitation and referring to the drawings Where railroad tracks cross roads or streets it is usual to make the bed ot the street or road at substantially the same level as the tops ot the track rails.

Desirably each track rail in the street or road crossing is provided with an inside and an outside guard rail of substantially the same height as the track rail.

Vhere an outside rail is used, the space between the outside guard rail and the track rail may be filled with any suitable material such as broken stone and gravel, or tar or asphaltic compounds while the space between the track rail and the inside guard rail must be suliiciently clear for easy passage of the flanges on the train wheels without danger of derailing where ballast, bolts or other foreign matter fall within this space.

In the past the space between the track rail and' inside guard rail has presented dangers and inconveniences in that people and animals have occasionally caught their feet between the rails under the rail flanges and further in that where the space has been filled stray ballast, bolts or other foreign matter or the like have at times caused derailing of the train.

Also the spaces between the track rails and inside guard rails of the track have been unduly difficult to clean and the present invention is directed toward securing an alleviation in all of these undesirable conditions.

In Figure 1 I show a track rail 7 adjacent aninside guard rail 8 the road level being shown at 9 substantially even with the tops of the rails.

The space 10 between the rails must allow the flanges of the train wheels to pass and therefore must. be suiiciently open to prolVide. clearancebetweenthese wheel flanges and any ballast, bolts or other foreign matter that inadvertently collect between the rails.

In the preferred construction I place a succession of spacing blocks 11 between the rail heads and, rail flanges along the opposing rails and hold them in place by a bed 12 of tarcompound or asphaltic compound or initially other plastic material over the tops of the rail flanges 13 between the rails.

Between the rails andl into this bed of bitumen I preferably force a resilient trough 14 so that the upwardly directed sides of the trough spring under the rail heads 15 and 16v into engagement with the spacing blocks 11. As elsewhere shown the character of support may be varied.

It will be seen that after insertion the sides of the, trough resiliently press against the spacing blocks 11 at the top and that the bottom, 17 ofthe trough is firmly embedded in the lling and supporting material.

. I provide one or both sides of the trough with means ,for cooperation with a bar or lever s0, that the trough may be removed. In the preferred form I cut keyways 18 at suitable distance from one another in the side. or

sides of the trough to receive key members 19. Thesekeys cooperate with a claw bar or other lever 20 when it is desired to take the trough outfrom between the rails.

In Figure 3 I show a trough le between the trackrail 'Z and inside guard rail 8 with a key 19 inserted in oneof the keyways and a claw bar 20 takinghold of the key for springing the trough out from under Vthe head 15 of the rail` The key member is shownin Figure 4l and comprises a bolt having a head 21 at one end adapted to be engaged by the claw and a noncircular head 22 at the other end adapted to pass through the keyways 18 and to engage the side of the trough across the keyway when turned on its aXis through ninety degrees.

It will be seen in Figure 3 that if the claw bar be pulled to the left the key member will be pulled by the lever so as to spring the trough out from under the head, rolling it out of its bed. The-capability of removing the trough-whether sprung to place or notwithout disturbing the guard rail or any of the filling paving material beyond it is of great advantage as it avoids the expense of patching and patching is seldom satisfactory.

I show in Figure 3 an outside guard rail 23 with the ground line nearly even with the tops of all three rails.

In Figure 5 I show myv trough member 1li w being inserted. n

A suitable block 24 of width to permit the requisite compression of the trough is placed inside the upwardly flaring trough and the trough is then forced downwardly between the rail heads by hammering upon the upper surface of the block along the length of the trough, preferably simultaneously pressing the block downwardly with any suitable tool not shown. rIhe trough is preferably Vforced int-o an underlying, resilient initially plastic bed.

It will be evident that the trough may be placed very accurately in its filial position by the lateral spacing members and may be supported at just the right height by the resilient bed.

`Obviously other means of anchorage of the trough may be used to secure all or a part of the advantage ofvmy invention and other means of securingr the trough effect may be applied in view of the disclosure herewith.

It will be further evident that the eXpansion of the trough sides beneath the edges of the rail heads after they have been sprung into position not only makes them align substantially with the inner rail head faces, but may support the edges of the trough against the rails.

Though all of the illustrations show what I consider as broadly the same lform there are slight differences between them in order to illustrate the obvious fact that variations may be made in the different parts of the device. For example, in Figure 3 thesupporting function 0f the resilient material is taken by or in part taken by blocks or strips 25 of any suitable material but of pre-formed and more or less definite shape. If these be of sufficiently resilient material they may largely take the place of the resilient filler shown in Figure 1 and where they are made short enough to lie between the spikes they would llO,

in any event be interspersed by a resilient filling material of an initially plastic type.

Wherever desired and particularly Where the material from which they are constructed is not suliiciently resilient for the purpose they may be further supplemented as in Figure 3 by additional resilient initially plastic material lying between them and the bottom of the trough and within which the trough may be imbedded.

In Figures 6 and 7 the side spacing blocks l1 are combined with a cross piece which holds them more reliably in position than would be the case with merely resting upon the flanges of the rails or Wedging in between the rail flange and rail head. One such combination 26 is shown in perspective in Figure 7 and appears in position in Figure 6. The side members ll are here united by a yoke 27 and this yoke is in this instance continued to extend downwardly between the adjoining rail flange edges 28, 28', as at 29.

The main function of the portion 29 is to prevent the side members from shifting their position, i. e., to prevent the member 26 from turning. For this purpose the length of the member 29 parallel to the rail lengths is made greater than the distance between the adjacent rail flange edges.

The member 26 can be inserted before the guard rail is placed, or by tilting it'after the guard rail is in position.

In the same Figure 6 I illustrate the thought previously suggested that the trough can be anchored wholly or partly by other means than were shown in Figure l, namely in Figure 6 by suitable spikes or screws 30 which pass through it and between the adjacent rail flange edges into the ties. This is of course only one of 'many such means of anchoring.

With any of the illustrations a continuous tie plate for all of the rails may be used if desired as illustrated at 3l in Figure 3.

In view of my invention and disclosure variations and modifications to meet individual choice or particular need will doubtless become evident to others skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the beneits of my invention without copying the structure shown, and I, therefore, claim all such in so far as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Pat-ent is:

l. In a railroad crossing, a track ra1l, an

-inside guard rail adjacent thereto, a trough shielding the space directly beneath the heads of the rails to protect the crossing and a plastic bed upon which the trough rests.

2. In a railroad crossing, a track rail, an inside guard rail adjacent thereto, a trough between the rails protecting the space beneath the headsof the rails, spacing means for holding the trough against tilting toward the web of either rail and a plastic bed upon which the trough rests.

3. In a railroad crossing, a track rail, an insideguard rail adjacent thereto, a trough between the rails protecting the space beneath the heads of the rails and resilient supporting material beneath the trough holding it in position.

4. In a railroad crossing, a track rail, an inside guard adjacent thereto, a trough between the rails protecting the space beneath the heads of the rails, spacers for the trough to hold its sides away from the rail webs, positioning means for the trough resting upon the flanges of the adjacent rails and a plastic bed upon which the trough rests.

5. In a railroad crossing, a track rail, an inside guard rail adjacent thereto, a sheet metal trough having its side edges respectively under the opposing head portions of the rails and a plastic bed upon which the trough rests.

6. In a railroad crossing, a track rail, an inside guard rail adjacent thereto, a trough between the rails protecting the space beneath the heads of the rails, means for anchoring` the trough with its channel edges in engagement with the under sides of the heads of the rails and a plastic bed for the trough.

7. In a railroad crossing, a track rail, an inside guard rail adjacent thereto, a trough between the rails protecting the space beneath the heads of the rails, a resilient support for the bend of the trough from the rail flanges and spacers for the trough held in position by the support and preventing the trough from turning toward the flanges.

8. In a railroad crossing, a track rail, an inside guard rail adjacent thereto, a trough of resilient material between the rails protecting the space beneath the heads of the rails, the sides of the trough being wider than the space between adjacent sides of the rail heads, a support for the trough holding it in position to engage the under sides of the rail heads and spacing means for the trough to prevent it from tilting toward either rail web.

9. In a railroad track street crossing, a track rail, an inside guard rail, a sheet metal trough between the rails and a resilient bed under the trough positioning the sides of the trough so that they are under and substantially against the under sides of the rail heads.

10. In a railroad track street crossing, a track rail, an inside guard rail, wooden blocks spaced along the respective rails under the opposing heads thereof, a bed over the rail flanges and a sheet metal trough of resilient material wider at the top than the space between the rail heads, sprung between and under the rail heads so that the upper edges of the trough substantially engage the outwardly presented portions of the blocks.

11. In a railroad crossing, a track rail, an

llO

inside guard rail adjacent thereto, a trough between the rails protecting the spacey beneath the heads of the rails, a resilient bed beneath the trough supporting; it and spacers 5 for the trough holding against undue lateralmovement of the trough toward the rail webs. 12. In a railroad crossing, a track rail, an insideguard rail adjacent thereto, a resilient flaring trough between the rails protecting .10 the space beneath the heads of the rails, of greater normal width at the top than the spacing between. the adjacent sides of the rai-l headsand sprung to position under the heads. 13.. In a railroad crossing, a. track rail, an inside guard rail adjacent, thereto, a trough between the rails protecting the space be-Y neath the heads of the rails, spacing means for holdingv the trough against tilting toward the web of either rail, andmeans cooperating withthe trough for springing one side of the trolughv and removing it from beneath the ral s.

14. In a railroad crossing, a track rail, an inside guard rail adjacent thereto, a trough between the rails protecting the space beneath the heads of the rails and means engaging the outside of the trough for moving one side ofthe trough toward the center'between the rails to remove the trough: 3g 15. In a railroadftrack street crossing, ak

track, an inside guard rail adjacent thereto and a. sheet metal trough sprung between the rails under the opposing heads thereof and having spaced keyways along one side thereof to receive a key to facilitatewithdrawal from position between the rails.

1,6. .An article of commerce comprising a sheet metal trough adapted to be sprung between the opposing heads of a track rail and of van adjacent insidek guard rail of a. railroad track street crossing, said troughha-ving keyways spaced along one side thereof.

17. In a railroad crossing, a track rail, a guard raill fixed closely adjacent thereto and V aliner for the space between the rails epro- Vidlng a runway for. the wheel flanges andv insertable and removable through the yspace between the adjacent rail heads.

JAMES L. TAYLOR, JR. 

